People use computers for many activities in both home and business settings. Computers can help people organize information they have collected or retrieve new information over the Internet or from other sources. Often, this information is presented to a person using the computer on a visual display device, such as an LCD panel.
Information for presentation to a user is often generated by applications executing on the computer. In many computers, the display is created by display interface software within the operating system of the computer. Applications may specify information for display as objects, which are processed by the display interface software to create a desired appearance on the display device.
In some instances, information from one application may be presented in one or more “windows” allocated to that application. The display interface software may present information from multiple applications in different windows simultaneously. In addition, the display interface software may present in each window, or at other places on the display, objects defined by the operating system. For example, the display interface software may provide across the bottom of the display a “task tray” or “menu bar” defined by the operating system to indicate applications that are running or available to run on the computer.
The displayed objects may be in any of a number of forms. In a simple form, an object may be a collection of text. Though, some operating systems support more complex objects. For example, the text may be formatted into a list object. In addition, objects could include icons or other graphical elements alone or in combination with text. Alternatively, an object could define a control such that when a user selects the location on the display device where that control object is displayed, the computer will execute a function associated with the control. Frequently, the user selects the control using a mouse or other pointing device that allows the user to position a cursor at a specific location on the display and indicate a selection, such as by clicking a button. Though, some devices also have touch screens, allowing the user to directly indicate a selection of a control object at a particular location of the display.
In some scenarios, a user may influence the appearance of information on a display, either by configuring the application or the display software within the operating system. Configuring the application may cause the application to change the nature or format of information generated for display. Configuring the display software can change the resolution with which information is generated for display, which can influence the size or position of objects on the display. In addition, a user may alter the size or position of objects on the display by changing settings of the display device.